Homecoming: The Live Album
| recorded = April 14 and 21, 2018 | venue = Empire Polo Club, Indio, CA | studio = NRG, Los Angeles, CA | genre = | length = 108:57 | label = * Parkwood * Columbia | producer = * Beyoncé * Derek Dixie | prev_title = Everything Is Love | prev_year = 2018 | misc = }} Homecoming: The Live Album (stylized in all caps, or as HΘMΣCΘMING: THE LIVE ALBUM) is the fifth live album by American singer Beyoncé, released on April 17, 2019. Recorded in April 2018 at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, the album features the entirety of Beyoncé's performance at the festival, which has since been described as "historic" by a number of music critics and media outlets. Beyoncé's Coachella performance wasn't just pure entertainment. It was a historic cultural moment.|last=Izadi|first=Elahe|date=April 15, 2018|work=The Washington Post|accessdate=April 16, 2018|issn=0190-8286}} Two bonus studio tracks – a cover of Maze's song "Before I Let Go" and "I Been On" – follow the live recording, bringing the album's length to just short of two hours. The album accompanied a concert film about the performance, Homecoming, which premiered the same day on the streaming platform Netflix. Background and recording On January 4, 2017, Beyoncé was announced as a headlining act for the April 2017 Coachella festival. However, on February 23, 2017, she postponed her performance until the following year, due to doctor's concerns regarding her pregnancy with twins (born in June 2017). Playing her rescheduled dates in 2018, Beyoncé became the first black woman ever to headline the festival. In its nearly twenty years of existence, the festival has only had two other women solo headliners, Lady Gaga (who replaced Beyoncé in 2017) and Björk (2002 and 2007). Even prior to Beyoncé's performance, the nickname "Beychella" emerged for the 2018 festival. For her April 14 and 21, 2018, performances, some 100 dancers as well as her sister Solange, her husband Jay-Z, and her former girl group Destiny's Child joined Beyoncé on stage. She played a 26-song set to 125,000 concert-goers in attendance as well as millions watching via the live-stream on YouTube and subsequent playback. The set sampled Malcolm X and Nina Simone among others. The performance has been credited as paying a strong tribute to the HBCU experience. A full marching band played during much of the set, accompanied by majorette dancers. Writing for Mic.com, Natelegé Whaley stated that the band consisted of members from various HBCUs and played samples of songs that are often played at an HBCU such as "Swag Surf", "Broccoli", and "Back That Thang Up", along with samples of gospel and go-go music. Journalists also noted that the set incorporated various aspects of black Greek life, such as a step show along with strolling by probates (pledges). Reviewers noted the influence of black feminism on Beyoncé's performance, including her sampling of Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TED Talk on feminism and the aforementioned appearances on stage of former collaborators Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child as well as her sister Solange; writing in Cosmopolitan, Brittney Cooper read Beyoncé's decision to involve these black women in the landmark performance as a gesture of sisterhood. Release The album was released on April 17, 2019, to coincide with the release of Homecoming, a documentary about the Coachella set that premiered on the streaming platform Netflix. Critical reception | aggregate2 = Metacritic | aggregate2score = 98/100 | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1score = Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=AllMusic|access-date=April 20, 2019}} | rev2 = HipHopDX | rev2score = 4.8/5 | rev3 = Pitchfork | rev3score = 9.3/10 | rev4 = PopMatters | rev4Score= 7/10 | rev5 = Rolling Stone | rev5Score= }} Homecoming: The Live Album received widespread acclaim from music critics. Metacritic assigned the album a weighted average score of 98, based on 5 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Writing for Los Angeles Times, Sonaiya Kelley named Homecoming: The Live Album as "one of the greatest live albums ever", with Makeda Easter adding that the "album is a piece of black history". Bernadette Giacomazzo of HipHopDX called the album an "artistically-sound triumph" as well as a "cultural touchstone and, quite possibly, the live album of a generation". Giacomazzo describes that what makes the album "so classic is that Beyoncé makes clear" that she is "Black Excellence, personified — and in her performance, she makes the audience believe that they, too, are Black Excellence personified". Writing for Rolling Stone, Brittany Spanos described the album as "triumphant" and "awe-inspiring". She noticed that the live album successfully felt like a greatest hits collection (reimagined to fit the college homecoming theme and marching band) due to its lack of connection to any specific album. In a review for Pitchfork, Danielle Jackson praised the album as a "stunning" preservation of Beyoncé's Coachella performance, commending its focus on historical black artists. She wrote that the performance showcased Beyoncé at her vocal and physical peak, while celebrating "complex, diasporic blackness". She also applauded the album's mixing and engineering, and concluded that the "wondrous, rapturous collage" could serve as one of Beyoncé's most important albums. AllMusic's reviewer Neil Z. Yeung had similar sentiments, concluding that "Homecoming is a master class in technical prowess, crowd pleasing, and soulful substance. Channeling the spirit of African queen Nefertiti (whose image she adopted for this show), Beyoncé proved to be a ruler in her own right, lording over Coachella for two career-defining nights." Commercial performance Homecoming: The Live Album debuted at number seven on the US ''Billboard'' 200 with 38,000 album-equivalent units (including 14,000 in album sales) from only two days of tracking activity. It is Beyoncé's eighth solo US top 10 album. The following week, it rose to number four, earning 57,000 album-equivalent units (including 8,000 album sales). After the album's release, the studio version of "Before I Let Go" peaked at number 17 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales Chart as well as number 3 on the Billboard R&B Digital Song Sales Chart. In the beginning of May, "Before I Let Go" debuted at number 75 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart issue dated May 4, 2019. It peaked at number 65 in the US Billboard Hot 100 issue dated May 11, 2019. Track listing Credits adapted from Beyoncé's official website. All songs are produced by Beyoncé and Derek Dixie, except "Lift Every Voice and Sing", "So Much Damn Swag (Interlude)", "Bug a Boo Roll Call (Interlude)", "Lift Every Voice and Sing (Blue's Version)" and the bonus tracks ("Before I Let Go" and "I Been On"), which credit no producers. | length1 = 3:16 | title2 = Crazy in Love | writer2 = | length2 = 2:47 | title3 = Freedom | writer3 = | length3 = 1:54 | title4 = Lift Every Voice and Sing | writer4 = James Weldon Johnson | length4 = 2:09 | title5 = Formation | writer5 = | length5 = 4:23 | title6 = So Much Damn Swag | note6 = interlude | writer6 = Beyoncé | length6 = 0:59 | title7 = Sorry | writer7 = | length7 = 6:34 | title8 = Kitty Kat | writer8 = | length8 = 0:42 | title9 = Bow Down | writer9 = | length9 = 1:28 | title10 = I Been On | writer10 = | length10 = 2:40 | title11 = Drunk in Love | writer11 = | length11 = 4:14 | title12 = Diva | writer12 = | length12 = 2:46 | title13 = Flawless" / "Feeling Myself | writer13 = | length13 = 3:58 | title14 = Top Off | writer14 = | length14 = 1:23 | title15 = 7/11 | writer15 = | length15 = 3:04 | title16 = Bug a Boo Roll Call | note16 = interlude | writer16 = | length16 = 1:58 | title17 = Party | writer17 = | length17 = 3:48 | title18 = Don't Hurt Yourself | writer18 = | length18 = 4:17 | title19 = I Care | writer19 = | length19 = 4:09 | title20 = Partition | writer20 = | length20 = 2:19 | title21 = Yoncé | writer21 = | length21 = 1:08 | title22 = Mi Gente | note22 = featuring J Balvin | writer22 = | length22 = 2:57 | title23 = Baby Boy | writer23 = | length23 = 1:32 | title24 = You Don't Love Me (No, No, No) | writer24 = | length24 = 1:12 | title25 = Hold Up | writer25 = | length25 = 0:46 | title26 = Countdown | writer26 = | length26 = 1:43 | title27 = Check on It | writer27 = | length27 = 1:16 | title28 = Déjà Vu | note28 = featuring Jay-Z | writer28 = | length28 = 4:50 | title29 = The Bzzzz Drumline | note29 = interlude; announced by Slater Thorpe | writer29 = | length29 = 3:10 | title30 = Run the World (Girls) | writer30 = | length30 = 3:53 | title31 = Lose My Breath | note31 = with Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams | writer31 = | length31 = 1:31 | title32 = Say My Name | note32 = with Rowland and Williams | writer32 = | length32 = 1:52 | title33 = Soldier | note33 = with Rowland and Williams | writer33 = | length33 = 2:11 | title34 = Get Me Bodied | writer34 = | length34 = 4:23 | title35 = Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) | writer35 = | length35 = 3:27 | title36 = Lift Every Voice and Sing | note36 = Blue's version; with Blue Ivy Carter | writer36 = James Weldon Johnson | length36 = 1:42 | title37 = Love on Top | writer37 = | length37 = 3:47 | title38 = Shining (Thank You) | writer38 = | length38 = 2:39 }} | extra39 = )}}}} | length39 = 4:01 | title40 = I Been On | length40 = 2:25 | writer40 = | extra40 = )}}}} }} Sample credits * "Formation" contains an excerpt from Nina Simone's speech "That Blackness" (February 2013). * "Don't Hurt Yourself" contains an excerpt from Malcolm X's speech "Who Taught You to Hate Yourself" (May 5, 1962, Los Angeles, CA). * "Run the World (Girls)" contains an excerpt from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's speech "We Should All Be Feminists" (December 2012). * "Before I Let Go" contains a sample of "Get Ready Ready" performed by DJ Jubilee, a sample of "Before I Let Go" performed by Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, and an interpolation of "Candy" written by Larry Blackmon and Tomi Jenkins. Personnel Production * Beyoncé Knowles-Carter – live performance direction, executive production, music direction * Derek Dixie – music direction, music mixing engineering, post audio engineering * Teresa LaBarbera – audio production supervision * Mariel Gomerez – music coordination * Stuart White – music mixing engineering, post audio engineering * Daniel Pampuri – recording engineering * Lester Mendoza – music mixing engineering, recording engineering, post audio engineering * Eric Hoffman – post audio engineering * Daniel Pampun – assistant engineering * Scott Kramer – assistant engineering * Colin Leonard – mastering Instrumentation Band * Simone Bozyermini * Janee Dixon * Chris Gray * Arnetta Johnson * Chris Johnson * Corbin Jones * Marie Katre * Ariel O'Neal * Peter Ortega * Lauren Robinson * Crystal Torres * Rie Tsuji * Lessie Vonner * Venzella Joy Williams * Vidie Williams The Bzzzz (drumline live) * Rasaq Adeyemi * Larry Allen * Mathew Ashraf * Jacques Bell * Alex Blake * Tallie Brinson * Issac Carter * Kadeem Chambers * Brandon Cunningham * Jalen Harvey * Rashaad Horne * Keir Garner * Dasmyn Grigsby * Michael Jones * Giovanni Luevano * Lomario Marchman * Maurice Mosley * Naderah Munajj * Joey Oakly * Sjoerd Onley * Ralph Nadar * Jason Price * Loubins Richard * Erin Robinson * Travord Rolle * Brian Snell * Nathaniel Spencer * Sean Torres * Wayne Westley Choir * Tiffanie Cross * Jasmin Cruz * Steve Epting * Naarai Jacobs * Jamal Moore * Dwanna Orange * Kiandra Richardson * Tiffany Moníque Ryan (Assistant Vocal Arranger / Lead Background Vocalist) * Jerome Wayne * Chimera Wilson * Cameron Wright * George Young Strings * Crystal Alforque * Nathalie Barret-Mas * Amber Camp * Jasmin Charles * Rhea Hosanny * Jessica Mcjunkins * Ezinma Ramsey * Chala Yancy * Crystal Brooke Charts References External links * Category:Beyoncé albums Category:2019 live albums Category:Columbia Records live albums